So the brown truck delivered my 8" drop ball mount yesterday. Curt 10K lb GTW and 1K lb tongue - takes a 1.25" shank ball. Got it off Amazon for 37 bucks with free 2 day shipping. I had a 2" ball w/ 1.25" shank on the 6" drop so I swapped them out last night.

Today I set everything up with spares, step blocks, tools, recovery gear, yadayada.........pretty much everything I would tow/haul minus any other passengers and cooler etc.

This is the set-up with the 8" drop:

Sags the back by almost 2" but it pulls solid, smooth, and straight - feels very stable. Preliminary fuel econ is unsubstantiated just yet,
but the tow tune on the Superchip and tow/haul engaged will give me my best results. Don't know that I'll bother with a WDH but I'll have to see after towing a couple trips with it.
Right now I'm gonna say it's good to go.

Then I had to fuel up and get some groceries in this thing - literally.

Hey Mike, did you check the rating on your new tow hitch?
I had trouble when I was looking for one with the right amount of drop.
The one I preferred had a rating of 2.5 ton. Ended up going with a Haymen Reece set up which is rated at 3.5 ton.

Hey Mike, did you check the rating on your new tow hitch?
I had trouble when I was looking for one with the right amount of drop.
The one I preferred had a rating of 2.5 ton. Ended up going with a Haymen Reece set up which is rated at 3.5 ton.

Cheers, Craig

Yeah, like I mentioned above, the 8" drop has a gross trailer weight rating of 10,000lbs and a tongue weight rating of 1,000lbs. The 2" ball with 1.25" shank has an 8,000lb rating.

My trailer has a 7,000lb rated bulldog hitch and the trailer itself has a 7,000lb GTWR. Tandem 3500lb axles - brakes on both w/ a breakaway.

I know what you mean about the drop hitches being somewhat difficult to find with the higher ratings.

For example, my 10" drop is only rated for 5,000lb gross trailer & 500lb tongue. Don't think my set-up would break it - but - it does exceed the rating.

On the other hand, my 6" drop has a 12,000lb gross trailer and 1,200lb tongue rating.

So the brown truck delivered my 8" drop ball mount yesterday. Curt 10K lb GTW and 1K lb tongue - takes a 1.25" shank ball. Got it off Amazon for 37 bucks with free 2 day shipping. I had a 2" ball w/ 1.25" shank on the 6" drop so I swapped them out last night.

Today I set everything up with spares, step blocks, tools, recovery gear, yadayada.........pretty much everything I would tow/haul minus any other passengers and cooler etc.

This is the set-up with the 8" drop:

Sags the back by almost 2" but it pulls solid, smooth, and straight - feels very stable. Preliminary fuel econ is unsubstantiated just yet,
but the tow tune on the Superchip and tow/haul engaged will give me my best results. Don't know that I'll bother with a WDH but I'll have to see after towing a couple trips with it.
Right now I'm gonna say it's good to go.

Then I had to fuel up and get some groceries in this thing - literally.

It does great actually. Much better than I would have thought. Pulling wise it feels no different than when I would dolly the XJ. However, it is much smoother and more controlled - much. With the OME heavy duty springs my rear end sag is 2 inches by the tape measure with a load of approx 5800 lbs and a tongue weight of around 650lbs.

I have the tow group IV package and engage the tow/haul function, as well as run the tow tune on my Superchip and it gives me 12 to 12.5 mpg. Getting up to highway speeds from an on ramp will put me up into 3500-4000 rpms but once I level out at 65-70 mph it drops down to 1800-2000 rpms, cruise control set - and just go.

Aftermath from yesterday's trip - (I have the jack set on the trailer so it looks like I have zero sag):

Yeppers - it was a good day. Sloppy, muddy, greasy rock - but a good challenge for wheelin.

I've said many times before - I don't like mud. I like good, dry trails and rock. Mud can be fun, don't get me wrong, but it's such a PITA to clean up. I've also said before - I like to keep my rigs clean. A filthy, muddy Jeep looks cool but looks won't get ya where you're going if ya know what I mean.

Thanks for the info! I've got a 2000 z71 that I use to pull my XJ, no trailer yet, i.e. uhual, so thoughts of being able to use the wife's new wk with the 4.7 has me dreaming of getting a quick car now

Thanks for the info! I've got a 2000 z71 that I use to pull my XJ, no trailer yet, i.e. uhual, so thoughts of being able to use the wife's new wk with the 4.7 has me dreaming of getting a quick car now

The only reservations I'd have in your situation is the Uhaul trailer. They are usually pretty damn heavy.

My trailer weighs around 1700-1800 lbs and is a 16 foot deck so I have lots of room to position the XJ and play around with tongue weight. The stock tongue weight limit is listed on WKJeeps for the 4.7 with tow package at 720 lbs. I think it makes more sense that it would be 650 lbs (10% of the 6500 lb max pull). The OME heavy duty springs are definitely stiffer than the stock springs so I'd guess that gives me some leeway as well.